


In-Waiting

by ClothesBeam



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Gen, Vignette, kid!goro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 09:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30036525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClothesBeam/pseuds/ClothesBeam
Summary: Goro gets home before his mother after school, but since he doesn’t have a spare key, he has to wait for a while.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Akechi Goro's Mother
Kudos: 12





	In-Waiting

The old linoleum squeaked beneath his cramped shoes as Goro walked to the end of the hall. His eyes followed one of the cracks in the concrete wall as he went. When he reached the right door he reached up to try the handle. It didn’t budge, so he tried beating his palm against it a few times. That way he’d avoid hurting his knuckles.

Normally Mum would come open it right away if she was home, but it seemed she wasn’t. He sighed to himself just like she seemed to all the time, then took his bag off his back and leaned against the door. She probably wouldn’t be gone for too long.

Goro was good at entertaining himself by thinking and imagining, but all he really wanted to do now was go inside and find something to eat. After a while his legs got tired from standing and he slid down the door to sit on his bum. He knew Mum would complain at him about getting his uniform dirty, but it was the end of the school week, so it’d be washed tonight or tomorrow anyway.

He brought his knees up and hugged them, letting his head sink down to look at the worn and scratched floor between his feet. But seeing his shoes reminded him of the boy at school who’d made fun of them for being old, which put some of the hot anger back in his chest and face. The teachers seemed to think biting someone was worse than teasing them, because in the end Goro had been the one to be punished. Again.

Goro’s thoughts stilled when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs at the other end of the hall. He looked up optimistically, but was disappointed to see it was only the man Mum had to pay rent to. When he saw Goro, his frown deepened.

The man stopped a short distance away and folded his arms. “Where’s your mother, boy?”

Goro brought his shoulders up to his ears and remained seated. The man didn’t seem to like his response.

“You don’t need to be smart about it,” he snapped.

Goro frowned. That sounded like a silly thing to say when it felt like being smart was all he had. His Mum kept telling him to put up with the students and teachers at his school because they were paying for him to be there. And if he kept getting good marks he’d be able to get a good job when he was grown up.

He didn’t really care about all that, but his Mum always looked happy and kind of relieved when the teacher visited and said he could keep going there. She always looked so worried and sad, so he did try to do the right thing. But some people didn’t make that easy.

“When she comes home, tell her I need to see her right away.”

If he did that, Goro probably wouldn’t see her until bedtime. He squared his shoulders and gripped one of his wrists. “Can’t it wait for tomorrow?”

“No!” the man exclaimed angrily. He took half a step forward and Goro immediately leaned away. “Look, you little…!”

The clack of footsteps and the rattle of plastic bags saved him. Goro looked past the man to see his mum hurrying down the short hallway. She was in a tracksuit and her hair was a mess, which probably meant she hadn’t talked to any men today.

“What’s going on here?” she asked, words politer than her tone.

The man sighed heavily. “I was trying to get your child to pass on a message to you, but I suppose that doesn’t matter now. I came here to tell you the rent is going to increase from next week.”

His mum’s face turned stony. “ _What?_ ”

“Once a fortnight isn’t enough,” he insisted. “And you aren’t exactly here under contract, so I can do as I please.”

“What I normally charge an hour should more than cover it!” Mum argued back.

“Feel free to go do that instead, then,” he sneered. “Sounds dangerous to go after strangers that often, though.”

Goro knew he was still too small and weak to stand up to a grown up. Even if he bit him, something bad could happen after. Instead he got to his feet and went to stand next to his mum. She immediately reached down and hugged his head to her side.

“Can’t we discuss this later? I have a mouth to feed,” she said coldly.

“The usual time on Monday,” he said pushily. Mum nodded, and finally he turned away to leave. But he paused and turned to add one last thing. “Oh, and kid, if your mother drank less you might eat better.”

Goro felt his mum stiffen beside him, and her fingertips pressed into his scalp more firmly. The soft clink of glass that came from one of the shopping bags seemed incriminating.

“Mind your own business,” he snapped.

“Goro…” his mum began softly, sounding tired already. But the man just shook his head slightly and continued walking away.

Goro picked up his schoolbag and took one of the shopping bags so his mum could unlock the door. Once it was open he hurried past her and put his one down on the low table near the kitchen bench.

The door closed heavily behind her as she put her bags on the table too. “I was busy when the school called me today,” she began suddenly. “What was it about this time?”

Goro pouted at her, but she only put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. “I bit someone for making fun of us,” he admitted.

She sighed and rubbed a hand against her forehead. “It wasn’t that same boy again, was it? His parents gave me a lot of trouble last time.”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with adults!”

“It does,” she replied simply. “And always will, until you’re an adult yourself.”

Goro folded his arms and sat down at the table. After a moment he reached down to play with the hole in his sock.

“If the kid is as bad as his parents, I know he’s horrible,” Mum said, not quite sounding patient. “But you have to tolerate it, ok? Having to pay for you to go to a public school on top of everything else would make things really hard. Even if it’s just primary school. But I have no idea how we’re going to cover high school...”

He could see she was worried, as usual. “I don’t want you to have to see any more yucky men.”

His mum sighed but reached down to ruffle his hair gently. “Try to remember that next time you feel like biting someone,” she murmured dryly. “If you keep your marks up and be a good boy, you might get a scholarship for high school.”

The sharp, hot feeling filled him from head to toe. “Why does this affect that? He deserved it!”

Mum looked a little startled but her expression went back to normal as she got up to put the shopping away. “I’m sure he did. But that isn’t how the world works.”

Her voice was quiet but sad like Goro rarely heard it. He’d put a lid on his feelings for her.

“What’s for dinner?” he began to ask, but Mum had already put the convenience store bento down in front of him. It seemed they both wanted to change the subject.

“I hope you don’t mind,” she said as she split the chopsticks for him and handed them over.

He knew the other kids at his school didn’t have stuff like this for dinner. Most of them had stay-at-home mums or even housekeepers. More importantly, they had dads that made lots of money and actually shared it with them.

“I like the egg in this one,” he said quietly as he tried to smile nicely at her. He always got told he looked mean, and he didn’t want to be mean to his mum.

She ruffled his hair once again before turning away to finish putting everything away. Goro noticed that she didn’t sit down to eat anything. But he wouldn’t say anything.

Goro knew she pretended to make him feel better too.


End file.
